# Evolution Is in Our Hands but Wisdom Must Guide It by Charles Cantor > “We have the tools today not just to control evolution, but to speed it up in a massive way. The cat is out of the bag. Evolution is in our hands. I only hope we have the wisdom to use it wisely.” > **— Charles Cantor**, *“Human Evolution at the Crossroads,” Boston University symposium, 2003* ## Sources and Context - **Authored symposium paper:** [Charles Cantor, “Human Evolution at the Crossroads,” in *The Future of Human Nature*, Boston University Pardee Center symposium (2003), printed p. 12](https://www.bu.edu/pardee/files/documents/Conf03-Human-Nature.pdf). The packet joined nonadjacent sentences; this version restores the intervening sentence and Cantor's concluding appeal for wisdom. The 2003 paper forecasts human genetic engineering while addressing limitations, diversity, disease, and choice; its confident timeline is a historical claim, not evidence that complex human traits are now under reliable design control. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] - **Article:** [[articles/Walking the Beautiful Path Through the Greatest Transformation in Human History|Walking the Beautiful Path Through the Greatest Transformation in Human History]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Self-Directed Evolution|Self-Directed Evolution]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Charles Cantor|Charles Cantor]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “We have the tools today not just to control evolution, but to speed it up in a massive way. The cat is out of the bag. Evolution is in our hands. I only hope we have the wisdom to use it wisely.” — Charles Cantor, “Human Evolution at the Crossroads,” 2003 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-cantor-evolution-in-our-hands ```